Fraud victim says bank re-victimized her

Former teacher fell for fraud, now Chase wants her to pay

Margaret Clarke was a victim once, taken for thousands of dollars by two brothers who have since pleaded guilty to wire fraud in San Diego federal court.

She’s even got proof. She testified in front of a federal grand jury as a victim that led to the indictment of the twin brothers, Anthony and Leo Casias.

She’s got letters from the Department of Justice, which also considers her a victim of the scam.

But now Clarke says she is a victim again — this time, by Chase Bank, which is declining to waive some $20,000 of charges the brothers put on her credit card.

The bank said it won’t waive the charges because Clarke gave the brothers authorization to put some charges on the card at the very start of their fraud scheme in the spring of 2012.

That initial authorization, which Clarke said was for $2,000, amounts to “implied authorization” and means Clarke is on the hook for all subsequent charges, a bank executive wrote to Clarke in September.

Clarke, 48, is a former schoolteacher who now lives on about $860 a month of disability income. She said she doesn’t have the means to pay the charges and is upset.

Two other banks, Citibank and Bank of America, also initially went after Clarke for thousands of charges on those cases. But both banks ended up waiving those fees, Clarke said, as soon as they found out she had testified in front of the grand jury and was a victim.

Yes
86% (711)

No
14% (120)

A spokesman for Chase said that the bank did waive a portion of the charges, but said the matter comes down to what Clarke authorized.

Michael Crowley, a criminal defense lawyer whose firm also represents people victimized by debt collectors, said the bank is wrong.

“If there is a fraud, and it’s been shown to be a fraud, it doesn’t matter what happened on the front end,” he said, referring to Clarke’s initial authorization.

The Casias brothers were charged with ripping off dozens of sports fans through their company, L & T Sports. Customers paid for airfare, lodging and tickets to out-of-town sporting events. Prosecutors said clients were often left empty-handed, with no place to stay when they got to the event, or tickets that weren’t valid.

Instead the money — all paid in advance— was diverted for personal uses or business expenses, prosecutors said.

Clarke said she knew the brothers through their elderly mother, a member of the same rosary group as Clarke at Our Lady of Angels church in Golden Hill. She said they approached her and asked her for a small advance to get the ticketing business off the ground, promising to pay her back soon.

That was in 2012, she said. She said she called the bank and gave permission for the brothers to make a purchase of no more than $2,000.

“I thought I was covered,” she said.

Over the following months as charges mounted, she said, the brothers implored her not to do anything because it would upset their 92-year-old mother. The sons were the woman’s sole caretakers, Clarke said. She felt if she turned them in the mother would lose her caretakers, and be forced to leave the family home.